Gilboa Prison Mayza Yousef
The cause of the Palestinian prisoners is one that stretches back over one hundred years. From the British Mandate, up until the current Israeli occupation.
As one would imagine, being a prisoner and tortured at the hands of occupiers is not an easy thing to endure. To lift spirits and morale, Palestinians sing songs for the prisoners in occupation jails. As Palestinians, we find any reason to sing whether in happy or tough times, because we believe that our music is resistance against our oppressors.
During the British mandate from 1920 to 1948, Palestinian women would sing songs to their beloved ones in prison, letting them know they would be liberated soon by the freedom fighters. To confuse British soldiers and nearby listeners, the women would add the letter “L” in between every word.
To the untrained ear, these songs would sound like gibberish, which caused the British soldiers, who knew some Arabic, to not understand a single thing when these women would sing.
The song I am talking about in particular is called, “Ya Tal’een Ala Al-Jabal,” which means, “To Those Who Are Climbing The Mountain.”
Here is a translation of some of the lyrics: To those of you who are climbing the mountain, will send you a signal by setting a fire… I just wish you safety… To those gazelles (meaning men) who are jailed inside, I want to tell you that this situation will not last… I wish you safety.
According to an article written by Shaimaa Abulebda in the Arab Lit and Arab Quarterly, the singer Rim Banna was actually the first person to revive the song and present it to a larger audience by including it in her 1993 album titled, “The Dream.” It showcased Palestinian poems, this folk song, and lullabies.
From there, the Palestinian singer-songwriter, Reem Kelani, decided to create her own rendition of the song and included it in her 2018 album, “Why do I love her,” in dedication to Banna who passed away earlier that year.
Earlier this year, another artist, Dana Salah, released a remix of “Ya Taleen,” in which she sang in both Arabic and English, singing about freedom and returning back to Palestine.
I would like to bring attention to another Palestinian song called “Maktoob A’Jbeenak Battal” by Palestinian singer Mays Shalash, which roughly translates to “Hero Is Written On Your Forehead.” (Lyrics are available in Arabic, feel free to translate them to English)
This song was written in honor of the historic prisoner exchange Wafaa Al-Ahrar, in which Israel agreed to release over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for a single Israeli soldier held hostage in Gaza named Gilad Shalit.
This song is meant to lift the spirits of those wrongfully imprisoned by the Israeli occupation, telling them that Shalash’s heart is with them, and that even if everyone leaves them, she vows to remain by their side and that her voice is a “rifle with fire.”
Shalash sings from the perspective of a Palestinian mother whose son is currently in jail, and reassures those in occupation prisons that they are heroes and the pain and torture they are enduring is all for the sake of Palestine’s liberation.
She sings, “Hero is written on your forehead, you who inhabit the cells. Whatever happened is all in sacrifice for Palestine…The sound of prison shackles, what a miserable sound…Your patience brings death, don’t think my heart isn’t with you, with everything I hear you, I pray to God to bring you back.”
Later on in the song, a man joins in singing from the perspective a Palestinian son telling his mother what he’s endured in jail.
He sings, “My mother, when I was shackled and they threw me behind the fence, I swallowed a cup of humiliation and my heart burned. They dealt with me without mercy, paralyzed my strength and disabled me. How many times have they postponed my meals, hours, days, and nights.”
While listening to this song I felt like I was hearing live first-hand accounts of current prisoners, given the current conditions in the prisons since Oct. 7, 2023, which are truly uninhabitable with prisoners being deprived of their basic human rights.
Shalash then takes on the turn of singing from the perspective of a prisoner saying, “My Lord, they forbade me from the prayer, they forbade me from prostrating to you…They forbade me from changing my clothes and my council. You owl of injustice shut up, the revolutionaries are coming for you…You usurper of land, recognize that what we want will happen. We freed one thousand prisoners and will continue the liberation…”
I pray for the liberation and safe return of all Palestinian prisoners currently suffering in the Zionist prisons. We must never forget about our prisoners for even a single moment, they are paying the price for Palestinian liberation alongside our brothers and sisters suffering the genocide in Gaza.
Free our prisoners. Ceasefire now. Free Palestine.